Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) shares reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $3.81 and last traded at $3.67, with a volume of 45972110 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $3.75.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Morgan Stanley raised Lloyds Banking Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Lloyds Banking Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $2.75.

Lloyds Banking Group Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $59.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.80 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a fifty day moving average of $3.07 and a 200 day moving average of $2.98.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The financial services provider reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.08 by ($0.03). Lloyds Banking Group had a net margin of 11.45% and a return on equity of 8.46%. The company had revenue of $9.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.76 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that Lloyds Banking Group plc will post 0.27 EPS for the current year.

Lloyds Banking Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a dividend of $0.1035 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This is an increase from Lloyds Banking Group’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.05. Lloyds Banking Group’s dividend payout ratio is 60.61%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lloyds Banking Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Forum Financial Management LP lifted its position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 35.6% during the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 181,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $494,000 after acquiring an additional 47,752 shares during the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC raised its stake in Lloyds Banking Group by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 95,882 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $261,000 after purchasing an additional 4,585 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Lloyds Banking Group by 225.0% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 7,098,940 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $19,309,000 after purchasing an additional 4,914,680 shares during the period. Logan Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Lloyds Banking Group by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Logan Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,078,041 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,932,000 after purchasing an additional 18,584 shares during the period. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth acquired a new stake in Lloyds Banking Group during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 2.15% of the company’s stock.

Lloyds Banking Group Company Profile

Lloyds Banking Group plc, together with its subsidiaries, provides a range of banking and financial services in the United Kingdom and internationally. It operates in three segments: Retail; Commercial Banking; and Insurance, Pensions and Investments. The Retail segment offers a range of financial service products, including current accounts, savings, mortgages, motor finance, unsecured loans, leasing solutions, and credit cards to personal customers.